A New Methodology for Incorporating Tide Gauge Data in Sea Surface Topography Models

As part of the Vertical Offshore Reference Frames (VORF) project sponsored by the U. K. Hydrographic Office, a new model for Sea Surface Topography (SST) around the British Isles has been developed. For offshore areas (greater than 30 km from the coast), this model is largely derived from satellite altimetry. However, its accuracy and level of detail have been enhanced in coastal areas by the inclusion of not only the 60 PSMSL tide gauges with long-term records around the coasts of the United Kingdom and Ireland but also some 385 gauges established at different epochs and for different observation spans by the U. K. Admiralty. All tide gauge data were brought into a common reference frame by a combination of datum models and direct GPS observations, but a more significant challenge was to bring all short-term sea level observations to an unbiased value at a common epoch. This was achieved through developing a spatial-temporal correlation model for the variations in mean sea level around the British Isles, which in turn meant that gauges with long-term observation spans could be used as control points to improve the accuracy of Admiralty gauges. It is demonstrated that the latter can contribute point observations of mean sea level (MSL) with a precision of 0.078 m. A combination of least squares collocation and interpolation was developed to merge the coastal point and offshore gridded data sets, with particular algorithms having to be developed for different configurations of coastal topology. The resulting model of sea surface topography is shown to present a smooth transition from inshore coastal areas to offshore zones. Further benefits of the techniques developed include an enhanced methodology for detecting datum discontinuities at permanent tide gauges.     

Algorithm for HF radar vector current measurements

A new algorithm is proposed, called the stream function method (SFM) for producing vector current maps from radial data measured by dual-site high frequency surface wave radar (HFSWR). In SFM, a scalar stream function is constructed under some oceanographic assumptions. The function describes the two-dimensional (2-D) ocean surface water motion and is used to obtain the distribution of vector currents. The performance of SFM is evaluated using simulated radial data, which demonstrates that SFM has advantages over typical vectorial combination methods (VCM) both in error acceptance and robustness, and excels another method based on least-squares fitting (LSF) in recovering the complicated current models. Furthermore, SFM is capable of providing the total currents based on radials from single-site radar. We also test the assumptions of horizontal non-divergence in the simulation. The new algorithm is applied to the field experiment data of Wuhan University’s ocean state measuring and analyzing radar (OSMAR), collected in the coastal East China Sea during April 11–17, 2004. Quantitative comparisons are given between radar results by three current algorithms and in-situ current meter measurements. Preliminary analysis of the vertical current shear is given based on the current meter measurements.     

A New Fall-Rate Equation for T-5 Expendable Bathythermograph (XBT) by TSK

The accuracy of the manufacturer’s fall-rate equation for the T-5 Model of expendable bathythermograph (XBT) has been investigated based on about 300 collocated pairs of XBT-CTD (Conductivity-Temperature-Depth profiler) measurements in various climatological regions. We found that the equation systematically overestimates depth by about 5% for the T-5 produced by Tsurumi Seiki, Co. Ltd. (TSK), but almost no bias is associated with the T-5 produced by Sippican, Inc., in USA. The cause of this difference is not clear, because the two manufacturers’ T-5 probes are reported to have identical shape and weight in water. We propose a new fall-rate equation for the TSK T-5: z(t) = 6.54071t - 0.0018691t ², where z(t) is depth in meters at time, t, in seconds.     

黑潮延伸区的海平面异常和中尺度涡的统计分析

利用1993～2004年卫星高度计TP/Jason-1和 ERS/ENVISAT提供的海平面异常(SLA)融合数据,分析了黑潮延伸区12年来的平均海平面异常的变化特征及中尺度涡的分布规律.研究表明,在黑潮延伸区海平面异常(SLA)呈递增趋势,年平均上升率为8.89mm/a,显著性周期是1年、0.5年和6年;黑潮延伸区的海平面异常和海表面温度异常的低频分量与Nino3指数具有较高的相关性.这说明,黑潮延伸区的海平面变化和海表面温度与厄尔尼诺事件密切相关,都受到黑潮变化的密切影响.在日本东部的黑潮延伸区,中尺度涡自东向西移动,寿命约为1年,移动速度大约是10经度/年.气旋涡和反气旋涡的面积呈现几乎同步增减的规律,均呈年周期变化,上半年少,下半年多.在1997～1998年,黑潮延伸区内中尺度涡的面积显著减小,并且正好对应于Nino3指数极大值出现的年份.因此,黑潮延伸区内中尺度涡的数量和强度也与厄尔尼诺事件密切相关.     

Mussel Periostracum from Deep-Sea Redox Communities as a Microbial Habitat: 3. Secondary Inhabitants

Abstract. Vacated microborings in periostracum of live mussels of the Florida Escarpment redox community (depth of 3266 m) become a habitat for a prolific secondary microbiota consisting of a variety of prokaryotic and a few eukaryotic organisms. Periostracum surface is also colonized by diverse microorganisms, dominated by presumed chemolithotrophic bacteria with stacks of intracellular lamellae. Unlike sheltered microflora within borings, the surface community is heavily grazed upon by numerous archaeogastropods and ciliates.     

关于海域面积精确计算的若干问题探讨

海域面积精确计算是实现海洋功能区划的基础和关键之一。本文通过对江苏省海洋功能区划工作中误差的分析 ,并针对其产生原因 ,在地图投影的选择和坐标的变换、扫描精度的控制、配准精度的控制、图象的数字化和图形编辑等方面 ,提出了相应的优化处理方法 ,提高了海域面积计算的精度 ,将其中误差控制在估计值范围内 ,从而在实际工作中有一定的应用价值。